|
Abstract
|
|
|---|---|
| We present in this contribution the winter,summer and annual surface mass balances of Johnsons and Hurd glaciers, for the hydrological years 2002-2011. The annual surface mass balances, averaged over the 10-year period, are slightly negative (?0.15±0.10 m/a w.e.) for Hurd Glacier, and very slightly positive (0.05±0.10m/a w.e.) for Johnsons Glacier. However, it we add to the latter the calving losses(volumetric calving flux is estimated as 0.823 × 10?3 km3/a), it results an equivalent geodetic mass balance of ?0.15±0.10 m/a w.e. for Johnsons Glacier. These mass lossesare, however, smaller (almost by half) than the average geodetic mass balances estimated for the period 1956-2000 (?0.27 and ?0.16 m/a w.e., for Hurd and Johnsons glaciers, respectively), showing that the rate of mass loss has decelerated in spite of continued regional warming. Interestingly, this seems to be due not just to the observed increase in accumulation in the region, but, at least in the case of Hurd and Johnsons glaciers, also to a decrease of surface melt associated to the smaller amount of energy available at the glacier surface as a result of increased cloud cover. | |
|
International
|
Si |
|
Congress
|
XXXII SCAR and Open Science Conference |
|
|
960 |
|
Place
|
Portland, Oregon, USA |
|
Reviewers
|
Si |
|
ISBN/ISSN
|
978-0-948277-24-5 |
|
|
|
|
Start Date
|
16/07/2012 |
|
End Date
|
19/07/2012 |
|
From page
|
299 |
|
To page
|
299 |
|
|
XXXII SCAR and Open Science Conference |